George McAllaster

George McAllaster (19 March 1824-2 January 1907) was an Irish-born American politician who served as a Democratic New York City alderman from 1870 to 1886.

Biography
George McAllaster was born in Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland in 1824, and he emigrated to the United States during the Great Famine. While living in New York City, he became the first chairman of the Canal Street Democratic Club, and he expanded its membership from 12 in 1850 to 685 in 1863. Impressed by McAllaster's ability to mobilize support for the Democratic Party, Tammany Hall recruited McAllaster as a ward boss, and he was able to ensure high voter turnout in support of William M. Tweed's allies. In 1870, he was elected an Alderman for a Lower Manhattan district, and he served for sixteen years. He supported the city's fire companies and supported the expansion of the NYPD, seeing both services as employment opportunities for fellow Irish immigrants. McAllaster retired in 1886 and later moved to Brooklyn to live out his last years away from the squalor of Manhattan, dying there in 1907.